1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a peripheral apparatus, an information processing apparatus for communicating with the peripheral apparatus, a network system including those apparatuses, a control program for controlling them, and a control method.
2. Related Background Art
As a conventional installing method of a printer driver, there is a technique for interactively realizing a printer driver installing operation such that on a setting display screen of a printer, addition of the printer is selected, thereafter, necessary information is input in an interactive manner (called a wizard) with the user, and the printer driver is installed.
Further, on a server, a mechanism of distributing the printer driver from a server apparatus to a client apparatus by installing it by “Point & Print” using a print server is being developed.
There are also being developed utilities comprising a program for obtaining main body information such as IP address, apparatus type name, and the like of the printer and information of an option as a function which can be expanded to a printing apparatus by using MIB (Management Information Base: refer to RFC1442 or the like) of SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) as a well-known network management protocol or a status obtaining function of a printing protocol which has been developed by various companies.
However, in the case of the conventional installing method as mentioned above, like an enterprise user constructing a print system of a relatively large scale, if the enterprise user owns a number of computers and has a number of clients, there are various problems because it is necessary to execute the operation for allowing all of the clients to install the printer driver. For example, it is necessary that the user confirms which printer he can use, the IP address of the printer, set information of a port, an apparatus type of the printer, option(s) which the printer supports, and the like, further, downloads and installs the printer driver matched with the printer from a server or a vendor site, and makes environment setting of an output port and the like. Knowledge and ability for such tiresome setting are required for each user. There are also problems such that it is tiring to execute such an operation and a large number of steps are required for education and creation of an instruction manual for teaching them. There is also a problem such that if each user freely installs various drivers and disorderly connects them to the printers, a trouble sometimes occurs in the print system. There is also a problem such that, on the contrary, if a printer administrator (IT manager) visits each user in order to install the driver, when there are a number of clients, it takes a very long time.
Further, in recent years, in order to cope with expansion of the functions of the printing apparatus, a hard disk, an expansion RAM, a variety of many sorting apparatuses, and paper feed cassettes can be attached as options. It is necessary that construction information of the printer is correctly reflected to the setting of the printer driver after the printer driver was installed. However, many drivers cannot be judged only by appearances. Special knowledge of the apparatus is necessary. It is difficult to correctly make the driver setting.